Ernest Plinlimmon is one of Clarice Fitch's many suitors, but has little chance. She likes strong, forceful men; he reads Portuguese Love Poems to her. Even his handicap of seven doesn't impress as she doesn't play golf.
Little wonder then that she sees nothing wrong in stopping to tie her shoelace in the middle of the eighteenth fairway while a competition is in progress ...
| The Oldest Member | narrator and advisor |
| Clarice Fitch | aviator and explorer |
| Ernest Faraday Plinlimmon | a mild golfer |
| Alexander Bassett | a golfer |
First published March 1936 in the Strand magazine.
Probably also published April 1936 in Redbook magazine (US) as Not Out of Distance.
Average adjuster
- someone who apportions between interested parties the losses resulting from damage to a ship.
Brighton
- a seaside town in Sussex.
Gobi Desert
- large desert in northern China and southern Mongolia.
'When a woman is to all intents and purposes wailing for a demon lover ...'
- probably from Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Kubla Khan.
'Only God Can Make A Tree.'
- Joyce Kilmer, Trees, also set to music in 1922 by Oscar Rasbach.
'Genghis Khan or Attila the Hun, singing that passage about "A nest of robins in her hair," or whatever it is'
- Genghis (c1162-1227) was the founder of the Mongol Empire that stretched from the Pacific to the Adriatic, best known in the west as the leader of the Mongol armies or hordes. Attila (406-453) was the king of the Huns who led his armies into the late Roman empire several times, causing much destruction. 'Nest of robins' is another line from Trees.
'Sort of fellow who couldn't say Bo to a cassowary.'
- 'can't say boo to a goose' means excessively timid. The choice of cassowary is unfortunate as it is the world's most dangerous bird due its powerful kick and that it is second in size only to the ostrich.